Charnwood Mountsorrel took a depleted squad to Timperley
this year, but performed really well to continue their good run in their third
year of entry. Once again, the weather
was excellent on the day and the hockey was as competitive as ever.
Charnwood 0 v
Crewe 0
Charnwood were slow to start in this one, relying
on ‘keeper Mick Barlow for several good saves to keep the opposition out. It wasn’t until the latter part of the game
that Charnwood got in their stride, but they had left it too late to force a
result.
Charnwood 0 v
Macclesfield 0
This was a chance lost – Charnwood were the better
team but were unable to score. The
defence of Tony Wardle, Nigel Calow, Paul Carter and Tony Kirk were largely
untroubled, but despite creating a number of chances, the all-whites could not
turn their superiority into goals.
Charnwood 3 v
Ashby 0
Weaver
Taylor
Kirk
Charnwood convincingly beat local rivals Ashby,
with Mark Weaver, Mark Taylor and Kirk scoring the first goals of the
tournament.
Charnwood 1 v
Bolton 2
Stanton-King (PS)
This was probably the best match of the round-robin
stage, with both sides producing some super hockey. Bolton took an early lead in a game that
ebbed and flowed, with both sides impressing the watching support. Charnwood were denied a goal by a foot on the
line, but Kirk saw his subsequent penalty stroke well saved. Bolton extended their lead, only for Kevin
Stanton-King to convert a second penalty stroke to bring Charnwood back into the
tie. Despite some lovely play, Charnwood
could not produce the equaliser that their overall play deserved.
QF Charnwood 3
v Morecambe 1
Waterfield
Kirk (PC)
Taylor
Charnwood qualified as seventh seed and drew sixth seed
Morecambe in the first of the quarter finals.
Despite going a goal down, the all-whites were playing really well now,
dominating possession through the midfield of Ravi Matharu, Dave Allen, skipper
Chris Waterfield and Stanton-King. It
was Waterfield who equalised, converting from close-range following a penalty
corner save by the Morecambe ‘keeper.
Kirk extended the lead with a well-struck shot from another penalty
corner and Taylor wrapped up the scoring with a beauty – Weaver’s close control
down the left saw him beat several players before he found Waterfield by the
near post and his subtle layoff set up Taylor to finish expertly.
SF Charnwood
2 v Bolton 2 (1-3 on penalty shuffles)
Waterfield
Taylor
Charnwood’s re-match against the eventual winners
was a cracking match, with excellent skills displayed by both teams. Bolton scored first, as Charnwood were slow
to start (again), but an equaliser soon followed as Waterfield expertly
deflected in a driven pass from Kirk at their first penalty corner. Bolton took the lead again, only for Taylor
to breakaway and score his third of the day.
Charnwood pressed hard in the final minutes, not fancying the shuffles
that would decide the tie, but could not produce a winner.
Four players had to complete the dreaded shuffle
(20 seconds to score from the halfway line against the opposition keeper). Despite going through this ordeal last year,
Charnwood failed to improve, going down to the same score. Only Taylor was able to score, with Allen and
Kirk being denied by the Bolton ‘keeper, whereas Bolton converted their first
three attempts to progress to the final.
Squad:
M. Barlow (GK), D. Allen, N. Calow, P. Carter,
T. Kirk, R. Matharu, K. Stanton-King, M. Taylor, T. Wardle,
C. Waterfield (c), M. Weaver. Manager: R. Merrick